Bell peppers with filled with Tex Mex filling is a quick dinner idea full of juicy flavor your family will love! This Tex Mex Style Stuffed Peppers recipe is sponsored by Campbell's®. As always, all opinions are my own.
If you've been cooking a lot more lately, you may find yourself running out of steam or losing interest in the same old same old. I feel you. Even as someone who has been cooking regularly for years (peep my archives for the receipts!), I find myself in search of inspiration from time to time. When that happens, I like to put a twist on something I already love to make it new and fresh again. Today, I've partnered with Campbell's® to share a stress-free Tex Mex stuffed peppers recipe made with quality ingredients you can easily find at your local Walmart. Your mouth might already be watering. But if not, let's get into the delicious details.
I love making Tex Mex stuffed peppers because I'm a Texas girl, through and through. The flavors are familiar to me and while I'm on the topic of flavor, I'll let you in on the literal secret sauce to this recipe: Pace® Medium Picante Sauce. A typical stuffed peppers recipe calls for tomato sauce but using Pace® instead adds a bold kick of Tex Mex flavor without any additional effort on your part. And I don't know about you, but I'm here for effortless recipes from now until forever. Pace® is Texas born and bred (like me) so it's a natural fit for this Tex Mex stuffed peppers recipe. You might think of it as a way to finish off a dish but its smooth texture makes it great for cooking.
What to Put in Stuffed Peppers
There are a few go-to ingredients for filling bell peppers but making stuffed peppers can also be an exercise in pantry and fridge foraging and eating in season. You can really stuff peppers with any combination of protein, vegetables, and grains that you have on hand. Here's the simple goodness that goes into my Tex Mex stuffed peppers:
- Ground Turkey
- Quinoa
- Sweet Potato
- Pace® Medium Picante Sauce
- Smoked Paprika
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
And that's it! If you're looking for more pepper stuffing options, consider mushrooms, spinach or other leafy greens, rice, lentils, beans, butternut squash, and other ground meat. I top these Tex-Mex stuffed peppers off with a bit of shredded Monterey Jack cheese but have also used queso fresco and it's great, too.
Tips for Making Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Try to pick bell peppers that are roughly uniform in height and width so that they cook evenly but don't stress about picking perfectly identical ones.
- Don't pack the filling into the bell peppers too tightly. Doing so can result in a gummy texture. Think of these as filled peppers rather than stuffed peppers!
- You can use any color bell peppers for this recipe. Just keep in mind that each color has a slightly different flavor. If you're wondering "What do different bell peppers taste like?" I got you:
- Green bell peppers have a sharper, almost bitter flavor. They are actually less ripe versions of other colors!
- Yellow and orange bell peppers are sweeter and fruitier (bell peppers are technically fruits, in case you didn't know).
- Red bell peppers are the sweetest and fruitiest!
To make these stuffed Tex Mex bell peppers, you simply combine and cook the filling ingredients on your stove-top, fill the peppers, and bake them. The whole process takes just about 35 minutes. Let me know how they spice up your cooking routine. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this recipe on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
P.S. more easy dinner ideas to add to your list:
📖 Recipe
Tex Mex Style Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 5 bell peppers
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1-1 ½ cup cooked quinoa
- 2 cups Pace® Medium Picante Sauce
- shredded cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high flame and heat for a minutes or so. Meanwhile, peel sweet potato and cut into one-inch cubes.
- Add ground turkey to heated skillet and break it up into small pieces with a cooking spoon. Add in sweet potato cubes then season everything with smoked paprika, crushed red pepper, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Cook until turkey is browned and cooked through (about 15 minutes) then remove from heat. While turkey cooks, cut tops off of bell peppers and remove seeded cores then place into a baking dish.
- Add Pace® Medium Picante Sauce and quinoa to skillet and stir well to combine. Evenly divide mixture between bell peppers then place baking dish in oven.
- Roast stuffed bell peppers for 20 minutes then remove from oven and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Carefully enjoy while still warm.
Zoe says
If you make this, please cook your sweet potatoes before you add them or you will get hard potatoes. Add garlic and onion powder for flavor and maybe some more paprika. This also makes about 7 peppers not 5. And I got BIG peppers too. Also you might as well use a 24 oz of picante sauce because just 16 oz was too dry for my liking.
Jazzmine Woodard says
Thanks for your feedback, Zoe! I'm glad you were able to make this recipe your own. Regarding the hard potatoes, I recommend cutting them smaller so that they cook in the alloted time. Hope this helps.
Britney says
I loved how quick and easy this recipe was! I made this after a long day at work and had a delicious dinner that was so flavorful! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Chef Mireille says
love all the healthy ingredients you put inside these peppers. This is a no guilt but oh so delicious recipe I can make any night of the week.
Jazz says
Thanks, Mireille! One of my new favorites for sure.
Marta says
My father traumatized me with stuffed peppers so I've always avoided them. When I came across this recipe they compelled me to make them and I'm so glad I did. They are the opposite of those nasty ones I was forced to eat as a child. You've restored my faith in stuffed peppers!
Capri Lilly says
I love the flavor of these Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers! I am definitely making this again and again!
Mila says
I LOVE that this is inside of a pepper! Lower carbs for the win. This was really delicious, Jazzmine! Thanks for the recipe.
Tamara says
First- I’m obsessed with Pace picante sauce! I grew up eating this salsa with my dad, nothing compares. Second, we whipped up some of these pepper the other night and, whew!!! They were so delicious. Definitely going to be making them again.
Desirée says
These stuffed peppers were TOO good! Will definitely be making again!
Chenée says
I loved the addition of sweet potatoes! This is the only way I’m making stuffed peppers from now on!
Aline says
I added beans to mine and I'm just sad I'm about to eat the last of it!! lol So good! Definitely recommend!
Nicole says
Made this recipe for my fiance and I. I am the healthy one and him, not so much. He love Tex Mex style food and this was perfect! I followed the recipe to a T, however, I added in two chopped jalapenos from the garden and it gave it an extra kick! Delish! This was added to our recipe book and will be in our food rotation. Thanks for sharing!
Trecie says
I made this at the request of a friend I was meal prepping for. I added in beans and corn and topped with pepper jack cheese. OMG, it was soooooo good! I will definitely becoming back for more quick and easy recipe ideas.